Benedict Cumberbatch, a Man Scorned: Musing on the New ‘Star Trek’ Trailer

Benedict Cumberbatch, a Man Scorned: Musing on the New ‘Star Trek’ Trailer

Lots of Star Trek fans were unenthused about the J.J. Abrams remake a few years back, because it stripped out all of the staid political wonkery in favor of a resplendent lens flare approach that made a bitchin’, modern affair of the traditionally dorky sci-fi franchise. The trailer for the sequel, Star Trek: Into Darkness, probably won’t do much to allay concerns about a second serving of grimness and well choreographed explosions. There isn’t much revealed outside of some pretty photography and the return of the franchise’s stars, but there’s one significant tidbit: The inclusion of Benedict Cumberbatch’s mad face, as he’s apparently getting up with Chris Pine’s Kirk for some previously rendered wrong.

Cumberbatch is all kinds of a righteous dude: Apart from being an excellent actor in series like the BBC’s Sherlock and movies like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, he’s also got a delectably British name that sounds ripped out of a Hogwarts classroom. It’s been known for a while that he’d be playing a bad guy, but it’s nice to see him kick through the doors and stand ready to deliver a few different varieties of hell. It might not be the Star Trek some people want, but it’s still probably going to be a pretty fun ride when it comes out on May 17, 2013.